The history and social structures of Latin America's native peoples were neither simple nor peaceful before the arrival of Europeans. Wars were fought, empires were created and destroyed, and-as this program illustrates-narrative tapestries of fact and fiction were woven in the process. Underscoring the linguistic sophistication that flourished for thousands of years in the region, the program addresses the proliferation of Nahuatl and Quechua literature,...

Today, much of the planet's population lives in a British-shaped world. How did this clutch of islands off the coast of Europe come to dominate the globe? The British presents the history of the British Isles from Stonehenge to World War Two using gripping drama reconstruction, the latest CG, time-lapse and aerial footage. A Tale of Two Cities covers the London Exposition, Industrial Revolution urbanization issues, and Victorian social reforms inspired...

At a time when revolutionary France was assailed from all sides, there emerged a young military officer whose genius and ambition assured him of great fame-and notoriety. In this program, Dr. David Chandler-world-renowned authority on the Emperor Napoleon and author of The Campaigns of Napoleon-provides full commentary on the strategies and tactics of the Napoleonic Wars. Large-scale reenactments bring to life the military campaigns that so strongly...

Spain's Golden Age is recognized as the most fertile and glorious era in Spanish arts and letters. Miguel de Cervantes, Francisco de Quevedo, Calderon de la Barca, Diego Velazquez, and many others created works of enduring renown.even as their country fell into ruin. This program contrasts the marvels of the Siglo de Oro through dramatizations, film clips, artwork, and visits to important locales with the ineffectiveness of Kings Philip III and IV-a...

""If you control our sleep, then you can own our dreams . . . And from there, it's easy to control our entire lives." The bestselling author of All the Birds in the Sky returns with a strange, haunting, and deeply human tale. Sophie serves coffee at an underground cafe. She stays in the shadows and listens to the troubles of the parlor guests, but does not draw attention to herself for one simple reason: Sophie is supposed to be dead. When a nationalistic...

As idealistic as it sounds, many argue that a desire for conquest can become a mission to improve the welfare of humankind. This program explores that notion, especially how it has played out in Africa, despite the myopia of an unquestioned belief that Britain could and should rule the world. In Central Africa, viewers travel in the footsteps of David Livingstone, who, though a failure as a missionary, became a legendary figure-the patron saint of...

An epic history of the Spanish empire in North America from 1493 to 1898 by Robert Goodwin, author of Spain: The Centre of the World. At the conclusion of the American Revolution, half the modern United States was part of the vast Spanish Empire. The year after Columbus's great voyage of discovery, in 1492, he claimed Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands for Spain. For the next three hundred years, thousands of proud Spanish conquistadors and their...

"Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She's used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, she'd be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remains of her world. Aster lives in the lowdeck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, Matilda has ferried the last of humanity...